Horseshoe.



No. 764,950. PATENTED JULY12 1904. W. H. LAKE.

HORSBSHOE.

AFPLIUATION FILED MAY. 14. 1903.

NO MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented July 12, 1904.

WILLIAM H. LAKE, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE HORSESHOE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 764,950, dated July 12, 1904 Application filed May 14, 1903. Serial No. 157,189. (N0 model- To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. LAKE, a citizen of England, residing at Memphis, Shelby county, State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Horseshoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in horseshoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable one skilled in the art to make the same.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the horseshoe looking from beneath. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on the line II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line III III of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like parts are represented by the same numerals in all the views, 1 is an ordinary shoe shaped as is the usual case to fit the horses hoof.

2 and 3 are cross-bars welded to the bottom of the shoe after it has been shaped. The bar Qis placed toward the forward end of the shoe, but unlike the common calk not at the toe, but a short distance from it, leaving, preferably, an open space between the forward part or toe of the shoe and the said bar. The bar 3 is placed about the same distance forward from the heel of the shoe that the front bar 2 is from the toe, being generally slightly more than one-fifth the length of the shoe from the end. These bars are preferably slightly thicker in the' middle than at the edges and are sharply beveled down from the point 4 just below the inner edge of the shoe to 5, the outer edge of the same. They project beneath the shoe and take practically the entire weight of the horse, so that they protect the foot from excessive concussion. I find, too,

that they serve because of. this protection and the surer foothold to balance the gait and keep the horse from changing from one gait to another, being especially valuable with badgaited horses. This is especially noticeable in horses who have a tendency to use an easy gait, such as a single-foot, as the protection afforded seems to relieve the direct concussion and eliminate the desire to ease up on the foot.

Properly weighted and balanced these shoes have a tendency to hold a horse to his natural pace or trot.

It will of course be evident that the position of the bars will have to be changed slightly for different shapes and sizes of shoes; but in general the distance is proportionately about as shown in the drawings-al 0., between onefifth and one-fourth the length of the shoe from each end. The thickness of the bars is preferably varied to give the entire range of weight necessary to balance the horse, varying generally between three-sixteenths and three-eighths of an inch in thickness or from seven to twenty ounces in weight.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States, is-

1. A horseshoe having bars across beneath said shoe, said bars being beveled sharply from a point below the inner edge of the shoe to the outside edge of same.

2. A horseshoe, having cross-bars beneath the shoe, said bars being slightly thicker in the middle than at the sides, and beveled sharply from a point below the inner edge of the shoe to the outside edge of same.

In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM H. LAKE.

Witnesses:

L. D. SMITH, J. H. VVEATHERFORD. 

